Natalia Schwien Scott is an herbalist, wildlife rescue & rehabilitation apprentice, and Ph.D. student in the Study of Religion at Harvard University with a secondary field in Celtic Languages and Literatures. Her research focuses on relational ontologies, posthuman ethics, land-based frameworks of personhood, and comparative thanatology. Her academic publications can be viewed here.
She has held three research and administrative positions at Harvard University. First, she was the founding Assistant Director for the Program for the Evolution of Spirituality under Dan McKanan. She then served as the Associate Director for three years, and now serves as Advisor & Program Associate. The aim of the program is to support the scholarly study of emerging spiritual movements, marginalized spiritualities, and the innovative edges of established religious traditions. Second, she leads "Interspecies Dialogues: A Conversation Group Exploring Animism, Post-humanism, and Entangled Roots of Interrelation" which regularly features a variety of scholars, writers, scientists, filmmakers, and animacy practitioners. Third, in Fall 2022, she co-launched with Rachael Petersen the “Thinking with Plants and Fungi Initiative” at the Center for the Study of World Religions. She then served as Advisor and Program Associate as well as led the program's Reading Group until the Initiative’s conclusion in spring 2025. She was an Associate Editor for the Initiative’s forthcoming edited volume.
She formerly held the position of Sustainability Specialist at Middlebury College's Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest in Vermont. In spring 2019, she completed Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation coursework and exam in Connecticut, before apprenticing in Vermont and Massachusetts. Since 2020, she has volunteered with wildlife rehabbers such as Wild on Blissville and ParkHill Wildlife Rehab in VT and Newhouse Wildlife Rescue in Chelmsford, MA. As a practicing herbalist, she has over 20 years of experience, including three years apprenticing with Vanessa Chakour.
She holds a Master of Theological Studies degree from Harvard Divinity School with a focus on the intersection of ecology and spiritual practice as well as a Master of Arts degree from Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English. Her research at Middlebury focused on fantasy literature and sci-fi, specifically on how authors designate personhood in their worldbuilding. She graduated with a BFA in Film from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.
Before transitioning into environmental spheres, she was a member of the inaugural artistic team for Brooklyn's National Sawdust and the founding Director for its in-home recording label, FKA Via Records. During her time with National Sawdust/VisionIntoArt, she produced performances at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MASS MoCA, the Park Avenue Armory, Miami Art Basel, Pioneer Works, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and more. Her work in the music industry has been featured in New York Magazine, The New Yorker, Time Out New York, Vice, For The Wild, Lullaby Machine, and more. She sometimes releases music under the moniker Ellayo.